84. Install Neighborhood Seating

If we think of the sidewalks in our neighborhoods as the extensions of public transit that they are, it stands to reason that having some public seating along the way would support use. Beyond this, neighborhood scale seating, much like stoop culture, helps to foster community by having shared public spaces to interact in very close proximity to where we live.

Two examples for the way this supports community:

Margarita Mondays: Years ago, we used to gather along the front sidewalk of a neighbors house to socialize. These neighbors would supplement the impromptu, small scale block party with drinks, which eventually became a regular event. Seating was always a premium, with everyone raiding their own garages for spare chairs to serve everyone who attended.

Green Chair Project: The Green Chair Project began in 1991 by Joel Sisson and Chris Hand after two Adirondack chairs were stolen from their backyard. After initially lamenting the loss of the chairs, the two decided that lack of seating in the neighborhood must be a need, so they should build a pair of chairs for each of their neighbors. With the assistance of kids from this rough neighborhood, which helped break down barriers, they built 90 green Adirondack chairs that they gave to everyone in the neighborhood. the project later became a pop-up art sensation, eventually finding its way onto the St.Paul Capitol grounds.